


Two Sides of the Same Shell

by not_today (708234)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng Fluff, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Enemies, Background Relationships, Bonding, DJWifi, Enemies to Lovers, Enemy AU, F/M, Fox Alya Césaire | Rena Rouge, Fox Miraculous, Hate to Love, Secret Identity, Texting, Turtle Miraculous, Turtle Nino Lahiffe | Carapace, adrienette need to get their act together, background Adrienette - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:46:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23431144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/708234/pseuds/not_today
Summary: Alya Cesaire was, by all accounts, a good person. She rarely littered, she had volunteered at least twice in her life, and she had spent nearly 100 hours listening to her best friend pine over her crush, without a single complaint (or at least with minimal complaints). And then of course, there was the fact that she happened to be a superhero. And not just any hero. She was Rena Rouge, the fantastic, incredible, and only superhero Paris needed. And as she had explained to Marinette countless times, it was perfectly normal for good people to have hypothetical hit lists. The key word being hypothetical. Alya would never actually kill someone. Of course not. And after all, there was only one name on her totally-not-serious hit list. The ignorant, boring, all over annoying Carapace.--Rena Rouge hates Carapace, Carapace hates Rena Rouge, and that's the gospel truth. Alya doesn't care. Not at all. No, she's much more interested in the new kid in their class. Nino Lahiffe is cute, smart, and makes her feel like less of a third wheel around Adrien and Marinette. But he's hiding something, and Alya is determined to figure it out. And if she gets closer to her not-crush in the process, she's certainly not complaining.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 9
Kudos: 58





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [this comic](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/576550) by tides-miraculous. 



> This was inspired by the comic above! It's such a cute idea, and I couldn't resist writing a story for it. Updates should be at least once a week. Enjoy!

Alya Cesaire was, by all accounts, a good person. She rarely littered, she had volunteered at least twice in her life, and she had spent nearly 100 hours listening to her best friend pine over her crush, without a single complaint (or at least with _minimal_ complaints). And then of course, there was the fact that she happened to be a superhero. And not just any hero. She was Rena Rouge, the fantastic, incredible, and _only_ superhero Paris needed. And as she had explained to Marinette countless times, it was perfectly normal for good people to have hypothetical hit lists. The key word being _hypothetical._ Alya would never actually kill someone. Of course not. And after all, there was only one name on her totally-not-serious hit list. The ignorant, boring, all over annoying Carapace.

Now, some people (aka Marinette) had expressed concern that Alya had murderous plans for Paris' other superhero. But Alya's best friend simply couldn't understand. Sure, Shell Boy was supposed to be her partner (preferably sidekick). But Carapace was such a _pain._ While Rena was impulsive, coming up with a plan in seconds and running with it, Carapace was painstakingly slow with his planning. Perhaps it came with the Turtle Miraculous. His ideas took forever, and they didn't have that kind of time when they were facing an akuma. And on the rare occasion that Rena's plan didn't work, he'd just stare at her with an infuriating raised eyebrow that never failed to make her feel like an incompetent idiot. So yeah, Alya hated the other hero.

It certainly didn't help that the city loved him as much as they loved her. Fangirls gushed about how he looked so _smart,_ with his stupid goggles and calculating looks. What Paris didn't understand was that being a hero wasn't a job for some nerd with a shell.

"C'mon Al, don't you think you're being a little harsh? He's had some good ideas." Marinette was sitting at her desk and sketching some new design. Alya hadn't even even thought she was listening to her rant.

Alya groaned and fell back against her best friend's bed. "Having 'a few good ideas' doesn't qualify someone to be a hero. Chloe had a couple good ideas for our project last week, but that doesn't mean she's going to be fighting akumas any time soon."

Marinette swiveled around in her chair, probably to further defend the bane of Alya's existence, when she was distracted by the chiming of her phone. She checked the message before smiling softly. Alya didn’t have to guess who it was.

"What, did Sunshine Boy finally ask you out?"

Marinette shot her a look, setting the phone back down. "No, just another cat meme. Besides, I don't think he feels that way about me."

Alya fought the urge to groan again. Adrien and Marinette were her two favorite people, but they could be frustratingly stupid sometimes. They'd been so obviously in love with each other since at least last year. Even Chloe had picked up on it. But they remained stubbornly convinced that the other person wasn't interested, which left them dancing around each other and engaging in terrible flirting. Alya was pretty sure this was the fifth time Adrien had texted Marinette in the last half hour, but she chose not to mention it.

"Hey, did you hear that we're getting a new kid in our class?" Marinette asked suddenly, breaking into Alya's thoughts.

She rolled over on her stomach, moving to face her friend. "No, how'd you know?"

"The principal wants me to show him around on Monday morning," she responded, eyes never leaving the paper in front of her as her pencil moved steadily.

"Of course, the perfect class president," Alya teased, grinning when Marinette stuck out her tongue. "Let's just hope he's not stuck up."

Marinette frowned. "Well maybe it would be better if you didn't judge him before even talking to him. Kind of like you did with a certain turtle-themed superhero."

"You're not subtle, Mari."

"I wasn't trying to be."

Alya rolled her eyes and checked the time. It was 5:00pm, which meant she only had.two hours before patrol with _him._ She considered skipping for a moment, but the last time she tried she'd gotten a very harsh lecture. It had almost been worth it to see the irritation on Carapace's face, but then he'd threatened to ban her from the next battle. Honestly, who did he think he was? He wasn't in charge, and he had absolutely no right to _ground_ her. 

"Sorry girl, but I've got to run." Alya said apologetically, standing up.

Marinette turned and grinned. "Is the Rena Blog calling your name?"

The Rena Blog was a website Alya had started shortly after becoming a superhero. It was dedicated to the akuma battles, and was the most reliable hero site. It was sometimes hard to get footage, but she had recruited Adrien and Marinette to film for her. Marinette had suggested that they make the blog about Carapace too, but Alya was definitely not including that stick-in-the-mud in her blog.

"Not quite. I promised I'd babysit the twins. But if I get some editing done while the girls are watching TV, who's going to know?"

Marinette laughed and offered to walk her to the door, but Alya waved her off. She knew the Dupain-Cheng's house almost as well as her own. It made sense, considering her and Marinette had been besties since they were five.

Alya grabbed her stuff, waved, and headed out the door, pushing all thoughts of turtle superheros out of her mind.

***

"You're late."

Alya didn’t even bother hiding her exasperation with the boy she'd just landed beside. "Or maybe you're just early," she said cheekily.

Carapace raised an eyebrow before glancing down at his watch. "We agreed to meet at seven. It's currently 7:03."

Alya hated him. She hated his monotone voice, she hated how he was always so composed, and she hated how he made her feel like a child. 

"Sorry, didn't realize three minutes was going to jeopardize the safety of Paris."

She watched his jaw clench with satisfaction. She may hate him, but riling him up had quickly become one of her favorite past times.

Carapace didn’t acknowledge her taunt. "We'll stick to the same patrol routes. You take the left side, I'll do the right."

Alya should have probably just nodded and set off, but she could never resist a chance to annoy him. "That's boring, don't you think Shelly?" She hid a grin as he bristled at the nickname. "Why don't we switch it up? You take the left."

He stared at her for a moment, eyes narrowed. Eventually, he seemed to decide it wasn’t worth fighting over. "Fine. Meet back here in an hour." With that, he leapt off the roof.

Alya grinned as he left. It was a tiny victory. It didn't mean anything, and it was probably extremely petty. She wasn't normally super petty, but Carapace had a way of bringing out the worst in her.

The patrol went smoothly, and she was on her way back when she heard a muted yell. Alarmed, she landed on the street and peeked around the corner. To her disgust, a man had cornered a young woman against the alley wall and was demanding that she hand over her wallet. Gritting her teeth, Rena unhooked her flute.

“What do we have here?” she said as she approached. The man turned around in surprise, and he scowled when he saw her.

“That’s none of your business. Move along girl,” he replied. 

“Oh, I don’t think so. Why don’t you get out of here before I see how my superpowers hold out against a mere civilian?”

The man faltered, and glanced back at the woman before sneering at Rena. “Whatever, pathetic teenager,” he muttered, running off into the shadows. Rena watched him go before smiling kindly at the woman.

“Thank you!” the lady gushed.

“Of course. Do you need help getting home?”

“No, it’s not too far. Thanks again!”

“No problem,” Rena said, still smiling. “Before you go, would you happen to know the time?”

The woman checked her phone. “8:10.”

Rena winced. Carapace was definitely going to get onto her. Oh well. She waved to the lady before heading back to their meeting spot. Carapace was already there, and he glared at her as she landed beside him.

“Yeah, yeah, I know I’m late.”

“What, was the right side too much for you to finish in an hour?”

Rena frowned. “No, I had to stop a mugging on the way back.”

The other hero eyed her for a moment before speaking. “Why?”

Rena blinked in surprise. “Uh, because a lady was being robbed?”

He scoffed. “I do know what a mugging is, thanks. My question was why were you dealing with it? We’re superheroes, not police officers.”

She gaped at him. “Are you kidding? You must be joking. I saw a citizen in need, and I helped her out. That _is_ our job.”

“Well, are you sure she actually needed help?”

Rena didn’t like the sound of that. “What are you implying?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “Well, you do have a habit of being...dramatic.”

She was getting properly angry now. “How dare you? Are you saying I lied about saving someone?”

He stared at her, still infuriatingly relaxed. “Not that you lied per say, but it’s perfectly feasible that you exaggerated a bit.”

“I can’t believe you! Ugh, I was so right, you're nothing but a jerk. Patrol is over!” Still fuming, she stomped to the edge of the roof to leave.

“Wait, Rena!” Carapace called. She ignored him, jumping off the roof. Marinette, and all of Paris, were wrong. Carapace was the judgy one, and she would be much happier on her own.

***

“Hey Alya, over here!” 

Alya turned at the voice to find her best friend waving from the top of the stairs. Smiling for what felt like the first time all weekend, she headed towards Marinette. Carapace had managed to ruin her whole weekend, and she was still sour about their conversation on Friday.

When she reached the top of the stairs, she found a boy she didn’t recognize standing next to Marinette, grinning slightly. She assumed he was the new kid. Her initial thought was _wow, he’s cute._ The boy had dark, tanned skin, warm brown eyes, and a sharp jaw. He was clearly pretty fit, and he stood with an easy confidence. He was wearing thick, black glasses, which made him look nerdy, in an endearing way. She was reminded of another nerd with glasses, but they way the boy smiled when he saw her made Alya sure that they new kid would be nothing like Carapace.

“Hey girl!” Marinette greeted cheerfully. “This is Nino.”

The boy, Nino, stuck out a hand. “Hey, it’s nice to meet you dudette.”

Alya practically melted at his smooth, relaxed voice. _Cut it out_ she told herself. _You’re acting as bad as Marinette. Well, almost._

She smiled and shook his hand, pleased at his firm grip. “I’m Alya.”

He released her hand and turned to Marinette. “Was there anything else you wanted to show me?”

Marinette considered it for a moment. “Um, I think we covered it, but maybe -”

“Princess!” Adrien cried happily, coming to stand with them. “You didn’t respond to my texts this morning!”

Marinette blushed. “Oh, sorry Kitty, I was busy this morning.”

Nino raised an eyebrow and met Alya’s gaze. “Kitty?” he mouthed.

Alya rolled her eyes before subtly pointing at Adrien. “Obsessed with cat puns,” she mouthed back.

Nino seemed amused, and Alya noted how nice it was to have someone to talk to instead of always being the third wheel. Adrien and Marinette were still talking (read: blatantly flirting), completely oblivious to the other two teenagers standing beside them. After a few moments of awkward staring, Nino cleared his throat.

“So, uh, who’s this?”

Marinette blushed again, this time in embarrassment. She quickly apologized, then introduced the two guys.

“Nice to meet you man,” Nino said. He glanced between Adrien and Marinette thoughtfully. “So you two are dating then?”

The two teens in question flushed, and Alya hid a laugh behind an unconvincing cough. Marinette and Adrien rushed to protest.

“Oh no, we’re not-”

“It’s not like that-”

“-we’re actually-”

“-really we’re nothing more than-”

“-just friends!” they finished together, impressively in sync. 

Nino’s eyes widened, and he nodded slowly. “Right. Friends.”

The disbelief in his voice was clear, and Alya decided that she definitely liked him. There was a moment of silence, in which Adrien and Marinette stared at each other with wide eyes.

Alya sighed. “Well then, should we get to class?”

Marinette blinked. “Oh, right! Yes, class we should get. I mean to class we get. I mean, we should get to class!”

Nino seemed to be one step away from gaping, but Adrien was just watching Marinette fondly as she led the way to their home room. Alya met Nino’s gaze and pretended to gag. He chuckled and leaned over to whisper in her ear. 

“Wow, they’ve got it bad.”

Alya shivered at the feeling of his warm breath, but she managed to shake her head in mock annoyance. “Tell me about it.”

They filed into the classroom, and Adrien invited Nino to sit in the empty seat next to him. Nino accepted the offer and slid into the seat in front of Alya with a quick thanks. 

“Alright class, we’re going to start today off with some group work!” the teacher declared from the front. “Everyone get into groups of two.”

Alya didn’t even hesitate before turning to her best friend, but Marinette was already beaming at Adrien. Alya shoved down her disappointment. She wanted her BFF to be happy, and she knew for a fact that partnering with the model would accomplish that.

Sighing, she turned to scan the room. Everyone already seemed to have found their pair. Her eyes finally landed on Nino, who had already been looking at her.

“Hey Nino, do you want to-”

“-be your partner?” he finished smoothly. “I’d love to.” Alya could feel her heartbeat pick up at his words, and for the first time, she understood why Marinette was always going on about her crush. Alya took in the twinkle in Nino’s amber eyes, his small grin, and the way his glasses perched precariously on his nose. Yeah, she could get used to this. 


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bonding, awkwardness, and more bonding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't have anything against homeschoolers! Two of my best friends are homeschooled, and I know not all homeschool kids are awkward. I just made Nino homeschooled because it fit with the story. :)

"And then we met in the library and worked for an hour, and he was amazing the whole time!"

"Mhmm."

"And he's so smart, girl. He totally knew exactly what to do."

"Yeah?"

"Plus, he's also super funny! And like, real funny, not lame puns like a certain model."

"Mhmm."

Alya eyed Marientte suspiciously. "And then Adrien walked in and made out with Nino for half an hour."

"That's cool. Wait  _ what?" _

Alya laughed at the look of shock on Marinette’s face. “I knew you weren't listening.”

Marinette blushed lightly. “Sorry! I was just texting-”

“-Adrien?” Alya asked, grinning with satisfaction when Marinette’s blush darkened. “Just as I thought. Let me guess, more cat memes?”

Marinette frowned before shaking her head. “No actually. He, uh, invited me to his photoshoot this weekend.”

Alya stared at her for a moment before grinning widely. “He finally asked you out?!” she practically shrieked.

Marinette winced. “No, no, nothing like that. He didn’t say it was a date. We’re just going as friends.”

Alya gaped at her friend in disbelief. “Seriously Mari?”

“I know, I know, but it’s not a date. But speaking of Adrien, he said he and Nino are going to get smoothies this afternoon.” Marinette grinned mischievously. “Wouldn’t it be crazy if we just happened to be there at the same time?”

Alya sat back in surprise. Usually she was the one coming up with elaborate plots to get Adrien and Marinette at the same place at the same time. “Couldn’t you just ask your not-boyfriend if we can tag along?”

Marinette’s smile widened. “Where’s the fun in that?”

Alya gasped in mock-horror. “My goodness Miss Dupain-Cheng, I do believe you’ve become terribly devious.”

Her best friend winked. “What can I say, you've finally rubbed off on me. Now come on, let’s pick what we’re going to wear.”

***

“Nino, Adrien, what a coincidence!” Marinette called dramatically as Alya stifled a laugh.

Nino grinned when he saw them, and Adrien completely lit up. “M’lady! I was just talking about you!”

Marinette was obviously pleased at the statement. Alya snorted.  _ As if he talks about anything else. _

She turned to Nino, who’s expression of exasperation perfectly matched her own. “Do you guys mind if we sit with you?” she asked.

Both guys responded affirmatively, although in very different ways. Adrien nodded enthusiastically, while Nino was much more relaxed. Marinette set down her drink and sat next to Adrien, leaving Alya to sit beside Nino. Not that she was complaining.

Marinette and Adrien immediately launched into a conversation about the upcoming photoshoot, and Nino smiled kindly at Alya. 

“Thank goodness you guys came.” he said, quietly enough that the two teens across the table couldn’t hear. “Adrien’s a cool dude, but if I have to listen to another sonnet about Marinette’s eyes, I think I might explode.”

Alya giggled. “Yeah, he’s pretty smitten.”

“You think?”

“Well, Marinette’s no better. Last year, the week of Valentine’s Day, she wrote a total of fifty-six cards for him.”

Nino sipped his smoothie before responding. “Did she give him all of them?”

Alya rolled her eyes. “Not a single one. She ruled out about fifty, and then threw away or somehow lost quite a few. There was only one left on the actual day, but she chickened out before giving it to him.”

Nino chuckled in amusement, and Alya sighed. “She’s crazy, but I love her.” She turned to look at her best friend fondly. Marinette and Adrien were engaged in a heated debate about the comfort level of some new fabric, once again completely oblivious to the world around them.

“So why did you end up moving to our school?” she asked Nino.

“Well, I’ve actually been homeschooled up to this point. It was pretty nice, and it let me focus more on my music. But my parents thought I needed to...socialize more, so they enrolled me in Françoise Dupont.”

Alya was surprised at that. “Really, homeschooled? You don’t seem socially awkward to me.”

He chuckled. “Thanks. Maybe not so much awkward, but I can be pretty uptight. I’ve never really focused on anything other than school and music. This one girl I know always says I’m a nerdy stick-in-the-mud.”

Alya felt a pang of sympathy at the tinge of sadness in his voice, although it was paired with a stab of jealousy at the mention of another girl he knew. “Well, for what it’s worth, I think you're pretty cool. Maybe a little nerdy, but in a good way.” Nino smiled at that, and Alya felt like she’d won a prize. “So you play music?”

Nino’s eyes lit up. “More like produce music, actually.” With that, he began explaining his music and DJ skills to her. He even offered to send her a playlist of some of the music he’d mixed. 

Alya couldn’t stop the fondness growing in her chest as he spoke. Normally, other than with Marinette, she hated when people rambled. But she was pretty sure she couldn’t listen to Nino talk forever. His voice was smooth and relaxing, and he was so honest. The way his face shone with excitement as he talked about his latest musical project was unfairly adorable. For the first time since Marinette and Adrien had gotten close, Alya didn’t feel like a left-out third wheel. Somewhere along the line, Nino asked about her interests, and she started talking about her reporting.

“Yeah, editing and posting is probably my favorite part of the process.”

“So you have a blog or something?”

Alya smiled. “Yeah actually, you might have heard of it. It’s gotten a lot of attention lately. It’s called the Rena Blog.”

She had been expecting the flash of recognition and the eyebrows raising in surprise. But then Nino’s jaw tightened and his eyes hardened a bit.

“You run the Rena Blog?”

Alya flinched at the sharp edge to his voice. She nodded slowly, wondering what she had done wrong.

Nino looked away, seeming to consider her words, before meeting her gaze. “So you’re a Rena Rouge fan then?”

“Yeah, I am,” Alya replied, hoping she didn’t come off too defensive. “What, do you not like her?”

Nino shrugged. “I’m more of a Carapace person myself.”  _ No.  _ How could someone as kind and perfect as Nino like  _ Carapace  _ more than her?

“Oh,” Alya mumbled, unsure what else to say. An awkward silence stretched between them, and they both reached for their drinks, avoiding each other’s gaze.

“Hey guys! We’ve been here for a while, and I’ve got some designing to do,” Marinette said suddenly, voice cheerful. They turned to look at her, and her smile faltered at Nino’s cold eyes and Alya’s frown.

Alya stood quickly, snatching up her half-finished smoothie and ignoring Adrien and Marinette’s questioning looks. “Yeah, we should go. C’mon Mari.” She walked away, not waiting to see if Marinette was following her.

“Bye Alya! Bye Princess!” she heard Adrien call. Nino didn’t say anything.

Marinette didn’t catch up with her until after she had exited the building. “Alya what was that?” she asked, falling into step beside her.

Alya shrugged. “Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me Al, you’re clearly upset about something. Was it Nino? You guys seemed to be really getting along.”

“We were,” Alya sighed. “He’s really cool and easy to talk to.”

“Well obviously. You guys chatted for like an hour straight. So what happened?”

Alya stopped at the crosswalk and pressed the button. “I mentioned the Rena Blog and things got weird. Apparently he doesn’t like Rena Rouge.”

Marinette was silent for a moment. “Does he...prefer another superhero?”

Alya scowled. “Yes Mari, he likes Carapace more than Rena.”

They crossed the street in silence, with Marinette clearly lost in thought. When they were close to the bakery and Marinette still hadn’t said anything, Alya turned to look at her friend suspiciously. Marinette suddenly looked back at her, jaw set in determination. Alya knew that look. It meant  _ I’m going to tell you something you don’t want to hear, and you’re going to listen. _

“What?” Alya asked impatiently.

“Look Alya, you’re right about Nino. He seems like a really great guy. And you two have great chemistry. I know that the heroes mean a lot to you, and for whatever reason, you really hate Carapace. But is that really a reason to brush Nino off? Don’t let that get in the way. It’s not like Nino actually _ is  _ Carapace.”

Alya mulled over her best friend's words as they entered the bakery. Marinette greeted her parents and a few regular customers before leading Alya up to her room. Maybe Alya was being stupid. Marinette was right, she hated  _ Carapace _ , not Nino. She wasn’t going to let the other hero ruin this for her. So what if she and Nino disagreed on this one thing? Adrien and Marinette had spent the whole afternoon arguing about fashion stuff, and yet they’d probably end up with three kids and a hamster.

“You’re right,” Alya told Marinette as she flopped onto the bed. “I’m going to apologize to Nino tomorrow.”

Marinette smiled, and then Alya’s phone buzzed. She glared at it. “If Adrien just sent me another cat meme I’m going to kill him.” Marinette giggled as Alya’s phone buzzed again. She unlocked the phone and was surprised to see that the messages were from an unknown number.

**Unknown Number** _ hey Alya this is Nino _

**Unknown Number** _ Adrien gave me your number _

“Who’s it from?” Marinette questioned, peering over Alya’s shoulder. When she read the texts, her face lit up with glee. “Ooh it’s Nino! Respond! Respond!”

“Okay, okay,” Alya laughed, saving the contact.

**Alya** _ Hey Nino! _

**Nino** _ hi. look, i just wanted to apologize for earlier today _

**Nino** _ that wasn’t cool of me. i may not like rena, but i think your blog is really admirable. hope i didn’t come off too rude _

Marinette read the messages and let out a noise that definitely wasn’t human. “Aww, he’s so sweet!” she cooed.

**Alya** _ Lol I was just telling Mari that I need to apologize to you. Don’t worry, I was in the wrong too. Thanks for the apology. _

**Nino** _ awesome. i guess i really am just an awkward ex-homeschooler ;) _

“He sent you a winky face!” Marinette squealed excitedly, bouncing up and down on the bed.

Alya snorted, glad that her dark complexion hid her blush. “Shut up, girl. Adrien sends you winky faces like every day.”

Marinette pouted. “Yeah, but only after he makes a pun,” she said grumpily. 

Alya put aside her exasperation with her two friends in order to text Nino back.

**Alya** _ Does that make me an awkward public schooler? _

Suddenly, the phone was snatched out of her hand. “Hey! Give that back!”

“Nope!” Marinette said, giggling madly as she typed something on Alya’s phone. She dodged Alya’s grabbing hands with incredible agility.  _ Maybe she should have been the superhero,  _ Alya thought. The phone buzzed, and Marinette laughed at something on the screen before typing frantically. Eyes narrowed, Alya launched herself across the bed. Marinette shrieked as Alya grabbed her, causing her to drop the phone onto the ground. Alya grinned victoriously and scooped the phone up to assess the damage. From what she could tell, Marinette had just changed Nino’s contact and sent him two messages.

**Cutie <3 ** _ haha guess we’re both awkward teens _

**Alya** _ Well awkward or not, I had fun hanging out with you today  _

**Cutie <3 ** _ same! you three are fun _

**Alya** _ We should do it again sometime. Maybe just the two of us ;) _

“Marinette!” Alya exclaimed, embarrassed at the last text. “That’s too forward!” Marinette just laughed maniacally. Alya grabbed a pillow, planning to throw it at her crazy best friend, when the phone buzzed again. She turned to check it nervously.

**Cutie <3 ** _ i’d love that. you free for lunch tomorrow? _

“You’re welcome!” Marinette cried after Alya had read the message out loud. Alya threw the pillow so hard it knocked Marinette off the bed.

***

Over the next few days, Nino and Alya got incredibly close. Their lunch went spectacularly. Nino introduced her to an amazing pizza place, and he brought his earbuds so they could listen to some of his new music. He even mentioned a few of his favorite articles on the Rena Blog. He told her that after they left the smoothie place, he had opened up the blog and read through it. Nino admitted that, although he still wasn’t the hugest fan of Rena, he thought Alya’s blog was really well done. Alya had practically glowed at the praise.

They continued to text as well, sometimes about the most random things. 

**Cutie <3 ** _ why does Tarzan have an American accent if he was taught english by British people? _

**Alya** _ Nino it’s 3 am _

**Cutie <3 ** _ you are correct. it’s 3 am and i need answers _

**Alya** _ First of all, it’s a MOVIE. Secondly, go to bed. _

**Cutie <3 ** _ no _

**Cutie <3 ** _ wait why are you awake _

**Alya** _ I’m finishing a post for the Rena Blog _

**Alya** _ I haven’t posted anything all week because SOMEONE has been keeping me distracted _

**Cutie <3 ** _ i have no regrets. also, you never told me why you don’t like Carapace. _

**Alya** _ Oh. Well I guess it's just because he always seems so serious. I mean, I know it's a serious job, but he's always so rude to Rena when she does something spontaneous. _

**Alya** _ But that's just my opinion. _

**Cutie <3 ** _ Hmm _

**Alya** _ Why don't you like Rena? _

**Cutie <3 ** _ it's kinda the opposite of your reason. she can be kind of...all over the place, and never really takes anything seriously. she treats superheroing like it's all one big joke. _

**Alya** _ Oh. I see. _

**Cutie <3 ** _ sorry, don't want us to argue about this. tell me about the article you're posting. _

Although the superheroes came up often, Nino was always mature about it, and they never let things get awkward again. Alya's crush was getting more serious every day. She found herself messaging him all the time, often when she was third-wheeling for Adrienette (the ship name she and Nino had come up with).

**Alya** _ Save me. Adrien's at the bakery, and they've been talking about a single accessory for thirty minutes _

**Cutie <3 ** _ lol. quick, enter into the discussion and see what they do _

**Alya** _ You're a genius  _

**Cutie <3 ** _ i know _

**Alya** _ LOL _

**Cutie <3 ** _ wut did you do _

**Alya** _ Okay spelling 'what' is not that hard _

**Cutie <3** _ :( _

**Alya** _ Anyway, they were talking about some famous accessory designer. And then they mentioned some earrings the designer made, but there's only one pair in the entire world. And I was like "oh yeah, I remember those, my great-grandmother wore them at her wedding". I made up this whole story about the designer being my great-grandmother's childhood bff. And they totally believed me! _

__ **Cutie <3 ** _ LMAO _

**Alya** _ You should have seen their faces! Adrien was all “why didn’t you tell us?”. And I just told them I didn’t realize the earrings were so special. Marinette just gaped at me for a whole five minutes.  _

**Cutie <3 ** _ comedy gold _

**Alya** _ Oof they dwidhwdq _

**Cutie <3 ** _ alya? what happened to you? _

**Alya** _ wow Nino, I can’t believe you encouraged alya to lie to us _

**Alya** _ i thought we were bros _

**Cutie <3 ** _ oh hey Adrien. sorry, it was too good to resist. _

**Alya** _ It’s Alya again. Adrien stole my phone and figured it out. But it was great while it lasted. _

**Cutie <3 ** _ ha agreed _

The week was going extremely well, so Alya was caught off guard by an akuma on Thursday. She and Marinette were spread out on the floor of her bedroom, studying. And by studying, she meant texting Nino and Adren. Very productive. Marinette had heard the screams first. She put down her phone and groaned.

“I’ll get the cameras and call Adrien,” she told Alya, already getting to her feet. Alya smiled gratefully.

“Sounds good. I’m going to head to the scene of the fight to, uh, find the best angle.” Marinette accepted her excuse easily, and she rushed to the balcony, Trixx hidden in her jacket. She transformed quickly before leaping towards the akuma.

She landed on a roof near what she assumed was the akuma. They were dressed strangely, adorned with all kinds of dog treats and toys. In their right hand, they clutched a leash. All around them civilians, who Alya guessed were the akuma’s victims, were wandering around on all fours, and...barking?

Rena suddenly felt a presence beside her. She didn’t have to look over to know who it was. 

“You’re late.” she said.

She could  _ feel _ him rolling his eyes. “I stayed in my civilian form so I could observe the akuma safely for a bit.”

Rena scowled at the admittedly smart idea. “Well? Find anything interesting Shelly?”

“Don’t call me that,” he snapped immediately, glaring at her. “And yes, I did. The akuma was a dog trainer, who’s upset for some reason. Her power is to make people act like zombie-like dogs that she can control. The leash is where the akuma is, and she hits her victims with it to use her power.”

Rena resisted the urge to groan. Why did he have to be so good at this? 

“Is that all?” she asked, trying to seem unimpressed.

“Yeah, I figure that’s enough info for us to form a plan,” he said haughtily. “Unless you’ve figured out something else?”

“Same as you,” Rena Rouge mumbled.

“Good. You distract the akuma, I’ll grab the leash. Try to avoid the dog-humans.”

“Wait hold on, why are you in charge?”

Carapace sighed, leveling her with a patronizing look. “If you have a better plan let me know. But you’re usually better at distractions, and I can grab the leash and throw it to you so you can take care of the akuma.”

She considered the plan for a moment, but eventually found that it wasn’t terrible. Straightforward and simple, but not awful. “Fine,” she conceded reluctantly.

He smirked triumphantly, and she had to grip the edge of the roof to keep from punching him. “Good. Let’s go.”

The plan worked fairly well. The akuma wasn’t very terrifying, and Alya was able to distract her with a few well-timed taunts and illusions. She nearly got hit by the leash at one point, but she was able to duck out of the way just in time. Carapace finally grabbed the akumatized object, and Rena caught sight of Adrien, hiding behind a car and filming. She spared a moment to wave, earning an angry shout from Carapace. Rena snatched the leash from him, ignoring his glare, and freed the akuma. She purified the butterfly and threw her flute into the air to clean up the city, Carapace’s gaze burning into her the whole time.

“What?” she finally said, whirling around and putting a hand on her hip defiantly.

“Did you really have to wave at the camera? In the middle of the battle?”

“So what? If I want to support the Rena Blog, I’ll do it. We still defeated the akuma.”

His scowl deepened. “Only because it was an easy one. I don’t have anything against the Rena Blog,” he said, face softening in a way that caught Rena off guard. “But you should take this more seriously.”

She snorted. “And be as uptight as you? No thanks.” She turned to go, but was stopped by a hand on her arm. She shrugged him off, spinning around to glare.

“Don’t touch me,” she snarled. He raised his hands in surrender.

“Sorry. Look, I just wanted to apologize for patrol on Friday. I didn’t mean to insinuate that you were lying.” She eyed him warily, trying to gauge the sincerity of the statement.

“Whatever,” she said finally, before walking away. She had disliked him since the first day, and that wasn’t going to change because of one sincere moment. She didn’t need his pathetic apologies, she didn’t need his thought-out plans, and she didn’t need him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Please leave kudos and comments, and subscribe to follow the story! I've decided to try and update twice a week, so we'll see how that goes. Stay safe and healthy!


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flirting, cat puns and heroes (finally) getting along.

“Oh, oh, the Eiffel Tower!” Marinette cried.

Adrien shook his head harshly, frowning and continuing to clap his hands together above his head.

Alya looked up from her computer, snorted, and went right back to the computer.

“Uh, the letter A?” Nino asked before stuffing his face with his third croissant of the afternoon.

Adrien was starting to get exasperated now. He shook his head again before miming flowing water. Nino and Marinette both stared at him in confusion.

Alya rolled her eyes. “A piranha,” she said.

“Yes!” Adrien cried. Marinette cheered and Nino laughed.

“That was terrible dude. Never go into acting.”

The four of them were in Marinette’s bedroom to “study”. Considering that it was a Friday afternoon, there wasn’t much motivation to do anything productive. Marinette had suggested a game of charades a while back, so Alya was now the only one actually working. Well, if editing the Rena Blog was considered working.

“Alya Cesaire, are you actually doing homework?”

She turned the computer around so Nino could see the screen. “Not quite.”

He grinned and plopped down beside her on the floor. She ignored the butterflies in her stomach that fluttered at his close proximity.

“What are you posting today?” he asked, sounding genuinely curious.

“Just some footage and descriptions from yesterday’s battle.”

“The dog trainer one?”

“Mhmm. Wait,” she said as something suddenly occurred to her. “Were you there? Did you get turned into a dog-person? Were you hurt at all?”

He chuckled at her worried expression. “Nah, I was safe. But I heard that Carapace made the plan for this one. Are you going to put that in your post?”

She could tell by his tone that he was just teasing, but she scowled anyway. “It’s not like it was that hard of an akuma. Rena could have come up with that too.”

Nino shook his head. “Alright, whatever you say, Master Reporter of Paris’ #1 Blog.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Alya said as she returned her focus to the article she had just posted. A notification from the blog popped up at the bottom of the screen and she frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Nino asked immediately, incredibly perceptive as always.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she sighed. “It’s just that my blog is open to posts from anyone, as long as they aren’t offensive. But sometimes it leads to discussions that I don’t particularly agree with."

Nino raised an eyebrow. “Like what?” he prompted.

“Well, a lot of people like to...ship Rena and Carapace.”

“Like romantically?” Nino spluttered.

Alya hid a smile at his baffled expression. “I know right! It’s crazy.”

“It’s preposterous. Carapace and Rena hate each other. Why would there be any romantic feelings?”

“Exactly what I’ve been saying,” Alya said, pleased that he was at least agreeing with her on this. “Some people claim that the hatred between the heroes is just pent up sexual tension.”

Nino turned a tiny bit red at that. _Cute._ “Idiots,” he muttered.

“Hey guys,” Adrien said suddenly. Alya flinched, having forgotten that there were other people in the room. _So this is how Marinete feels all the time._

“We’re going to get extra snacks,” Adrien continued, motioning to the almost empty platter in the middle of the oom. It had been filled to the brim with pastries when they brought it up. Huh. 

“We’ll be back in a few minutes,” Marinette called, already following Adrien down the stairs. Alya watched them go before grabbing her cup of juice.

“So, is ‘going to get snacks’ code for making out in the kitchen?” Nino asked, so suddenly and so close that Alya choked on her juice, nearly spilling it onto her laptop.

“Oh oops, sorry!” Nino exclaimed, but she could tell he was trying not to laugh.

She turned to look at him with a mock-glare. “You think that’s funny, Lahiffe?”

“And what if I do, Cesaire?”

Alya grinned. “Shut up.”

Nino leaned closer, stealing her breath and whatever else she was going to say. “Why don’t you make me?”

Alya gasped softly. Nino’s lips curled into a mischievous smile, and his eyes glinted playfully.

“We’re back!” Adried exclaimed without warning, a tray full of sweets balanced on his left hand. Nino and Alya shot apart. Alya fixed her gaze back on the computer, and Nino suddenly became very interested in a stain on the floor.

“That was fast,” Alya said when she had finally gotten her voice back under control. She was probably still blushing, but she’d just have to hope nobody mentioned.

“Yeah, maman had another tray already ready for us,” Marinette said as she sat down. She shot Alya a questioning look. Yep, her blush was definitely visible. She shook her discreetly and mouthed the word “later”. Marinette frowned, but relented.

“Oh, by the way, my parents said you guys can stay the night. Is everyone up for a sleepover?”

“That’s a great idea!” Alya said. Adrien also seemed excited. They all turned to Nino, who frowned.

“Sorry guys, but I’m busy tonight. Maybe another time.”

Alya frowned. Who was busy on a Friday? And then it suddenly hit her. Patrol. _She_ was busy. Ugh, stupid Carapace and his stupid schedules.

“Actually, I just forgot I have something tonight too.” Marinette eyed her suspiciously. “But you two are free to have a sleepover. Adrien can have my spot in Mari’s bed,” she added quickly, hoping they’d think this was just another one of her Adrienette schemes. Judging by Marinette’s blush and Nino’s smirk, she was successful. “Now, I’ve got a few hours before I have to go. I’m going to crush all of you in another round of charades.”

***

“I was thinking we should focus on some new strategies.”

“Mhmm. ” _Was Nino really flirting with me today? Or was he just teasing?_

“As much as I hate to say it, we need to practice our teamwork.”

“Okay.” _Flirting or not, I wish Adrien hadn’t hadn’t interrupted. Nino had that look in his eyes...mmm._

“I’ve thought out a few practices we can do during patrols, if that works.”

“Sounds good.” _Should I bring it up on Monday? Or maybe I should text him? I don’t want to make things weird._

“Sounds good? Really? You’re strangely complacent today.”

“Yeah okay.” _What if I flirt with him over text, but say it was Marinette if he responds badly? That could work._

“What? Oh my gosh, you’re not even listening to me. Rena. Rena! RENA!”

“What?! What?”

Carapace glared. “Have you seriously been daydreaming this whole time?”

Rena glared right back, mostly just to hide her embarrassment at being caught. “So what if I was? I don’t want to be here. I had to cancel plans with my best friends for this. Just because you’re a lonely nerd with no plans doesn’t mean you can constantly ruin mine.”

Her rant seemed to hit a sore spot. “I’m not lonely. I actually declined plans too," he said quietly.

She rolled her eyes at his defensive tone. “Congratulations, looks like Friday patrols don’t work for either of us.”

“Okay, how about Wednesdays?”

Rena tilted her head in confusion. “What?”

“Wednesday patrols. If Fridays aren’t working out, let's just change the day.”

She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Just like that?”

“I mean, yeah.” He sighed, seeming a bit irritated. “We don’t have to fight about everything.”

“I can’t do Wednesdays,” she said immediately, just to prove him wrong. She wasn’t actually busy on Wednesdays. In fact, Wednesday was the day she was the most free. But he didn’t need to know that.

“Okay, Tuesday then.”

“Still at 7?”

“Sure.”

“Okay.”

“Ok.”

They stared at each other for an awkward moment. Rena considered picking a fight, just to break the silence, but then Carapace stepped closer, a surprisingly earnest expression on his face.

“Look Rena, I may have misjudged you. I’m not saying I agree with everything you do. But I met someone recently who’s a lot like you. She’s like you’re number one fan. But she’s still somehow become a really good friend. And I can’t help thinking that maybe I’m wrong about you. I’m not saying we have to be friends. Honestly, I don’t think we ever will be. But I think we could do a lot more good if we really worked together.” He extended a hand to her. “Partners? For real this time?”

A year and a half of animosity encouraged her to laugh at him and run away. But as he stood there, arm held out hopefully, she was reminded of Nino. Nino, who disagreed with her on one of her most valued beliefs. And yet, he had quickly become one of her favorite people. Nino liked Carapace, and she trusted Nino. Maybe he was onto something.

Before she could lose her nerve, she grabbed his hand and shook it lightly. “Partners. For real.” 

He smiled at her, and for the first time she wasn’t annoyed with him.

***

Alya didn’t see Carapace until the next week. Over the weekend, she texted Nino saying that maybe Carapace wasn’t all that bad. He was delighted, and admitted that he’d been thinking the same thing about Rena. Marinette called her on Saturday morning, demanding all the details. When Alya told her about the maybe-flirting on Friday, Marinette had cheered so loud that Alya dropped the phone. And Adrien...well Adrien sent her twelve cat memes, despite the many threats she texted back. All in all, it was a relaxing weekend.

But like all good things, it came to an end. Monday eventually came, and brought with it two tests and a pop quiz. And then, because the day wasn’t bad enough, Hawk Moth decided to send out an akuma called the Duplicator.

It was immediately clear that the Duplicator wasn’t going to be an easy one. The akuma was some girl who was lonely. She had the power to duplicate herself whenever she wanted, and within minutes there were a dozen copies of her running around Paris. Even with their newfound teamwork, Carapace and Rena Rouge weren’t doing too well. They had determined that the girl’s ring was where the akuma was, but they had no idea which Duplicator was the original. They’d already taken care of ten, but there were about thirty more wreaking havoc across Paris.

“Uh, Rena,” Carapace said after breaking yet another ring. “Maybe it’s time for a charm?”

She nodded, unhooking her flute. “Clever Charm!” she cried before playing the right notes. Smoke wafted out of the instrument and into the air. The two heros watched as the image of a teapot floated above them.

“A teapot?” Carapace asked, sounding slightly disappointed. Rena had to agree. Her Clever Charms weren't always easy to figure out, but this one seemed particularly cryptic.

She thought hard, studying the image thoughtfully. And then she suddenly got it. She'd seen that teapot before.

"I know what it means!"

"Great. What is it?"

Rena faltered. "Uh, I think this is something i need to do."

Carapace's jaw tightened. "I thought we were going to try to work together."

She cringed. "Yeah, I know. And we are. I just, this one's difficult. I'm sorry." She began running in the right direction, not wanting to see his disappointed expression.

She had only met Master Fu twice. The first time was when she had gotten her miraculous. She'd saved him from being run over at a crosswalk on her way to school, and he had given her the fox miraculous. Of course, she hadn't known it was him at the time. But then Trixx had gotten really sick one day, and insisted they visit the master. That was her first time in the massage parlor Master Fu lived. And it was also where she'd seen the teapot.

She entered the shop quickly, making her way to the back. Sure enough, there he was, sipping his tea and sitting calmly.

"Master Fu! There's an akuma attack going on! My Clever Charm told me to come here and I-"

He silenced her with a raised hand, then took another sip of tea and set the cup down. "Rena Rouge. I have been waiting for you. Please, sit."

She considered protesting, but decided to just sit. Her fingers tapped her thigh impatiently as she waited for him to speak.

"I'm assuming this is a difficult akuma? One the two of you cannot fight alone?"

Rena nodded. "That's right." Her words were followed by the tell-tale beeps of her miraculous.

Fu smiled kindly. "Go ahead and de-transform. I have some snacks for Trixx in the other room."

Rena did as he said, petting her kwami before relaying the message. Trixx flew off to eat and Alya leaned forward. "So what do we do?"

Master Fu stood up and grabbed a wooden box from the table. "It is time for you to pick some allies." He opened the box, and Alya's eyes widened as she took in the many colorful pieces of jewelry. "You will need to choose a miraculous to fight alongside you and Carapace, temporarily."

Alya glanced at every one of them, and the two in the middle caught her eyes. "What are these?" she asked, pointing at the ring and earrings.

Fu smiled. "Ah. Those are the Ladybug and Chat Noir miraculous. They are very powerful, but they must be used together. If one is used on it's own, it will upset the balance.

"What are their powers?"

"The Ladybug is luck. And the Chat Noir is destruction." Alya thought of all the Duplicators and all the rings they needed to break.

"I'm ready to go!" Trixx exclaimed, flying back into the room happily and landing on Alya's shoulder.

"Master Fu, I think I should take these two. I know two perfect people."

"Good," he said simply, handing her the black ring and red spotted earrings.

She transformed and ran back outside. To her dismay, even more akuma copies were roaming the streets. She needed to find Marinette and Adrien. She climbed onto the nearest roof and began leaping across the city.

"Where were you?" The angry voice startled her, and she turned to find a very irritated Carapace. He had a light bruise on his face and Rena immediately felt guilty.

"I'm sorry! I really am, I just-"

"Where. Were. You."

Rena grimaced. "Look, we'll talk about this. But we have more pressing matters to attend to." He opened his mouth, probably to scold her further, but she extended the Chat Noir miraculous box. "I need you to get this to Adrien Agreste."

Carapace looked shocked for a moment, and then his face morphed into suspicion. "Is that a miraculous? What's going on?"

Rena sighed. "My lucky charm told me that we can't fight this one alone. I'm going to hand out the Ladybug miraculous, so I need you to take the Chat Noir one."

He frowned at her for a few tense moments. "Alright, fine. But we're talking about this later." With that, he snatched the box out of her hand and leapt off the roof. Rena watched him go before heading to the bakery.

***

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you have been chosen to wield the Ladybug miraculous. You will use it to help Carapace and I defeat the Duplicator, and then you will return it to me. Do you accept?”

“M-me? Like, really? Because I really don’t-”

“Marinette,” Rena interrupted. “We don’t have a lot of time.”

“Oh okay, right. Um, yeah, I’ll do it!” Rena smiled.

“Then it’s time for you to meet your kwami.” She opened the box and a piercing red light filled the room.

“AHH THERE’S A GIANT MOUSE BUG!”

“Marinette wait, no!”

***

Once Alya had explained that the kwami was not, in fact, a mouse or bug, Marinette calmed down enough for Tikki to introduce herself and her powers. Then Rena had led her outside and back to where she was supposed to meet Carapace. It took a couple tries for Ladybug to get used to her yo-yo, but once she did, she was a natural. Rena had never felt so proud of her best friend. They landed on the roof two minutes before Carapace arrived, Adrien-er _Chat Noir_ in tow.

Chat landed beside Ladybug and offered everyone a wide grin. “Purrfect timing!” he proclaimed. The other three heroes cringed at the pun. _Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea._

Ladybug beamed at Rena. “So what’s the plan, boss?”

“Uh, she’s not the boss,” Carapace interjected, frowning. Rena rolled her eyes.

“Whatever. The plan is that we split into groups of two and spread out. The real ring is the one that doesn’t break as easily. We’ll probably have to use Chat’s Cataclysm. If you find the original, call the other team with your communication devices. Sound good?”

Chat and Ladybug nodded eagerly, but Carapace’s face remained impassive. “What are the teams then?” he asked.

Rena sighed. “As much as I’d love to change things up, I think it’s best if we do Ladybug and Chat Noir together, and then Carapace and I.” She motioned to the new heroes. “Your miraculous are meant to work together.” Carapace didn’t protest, and soon they were all on their way.

“So, you seemed to know a lot about the new miraculous,” Carapace began as he shielded them from an attack.

Rena created an illusion to distract a few Duplicators while she stole their rings. “Do we really have to talk about this right now?”

He scowled, landing a punch that knocked a copy of the akuma out. “When else would you suggest?”

“Oh I don’t know. After this battle? At patrol tomorrow? Literally any other time?” she punctuated each question with another broken ring before stakling forward to approach another group of Duplicators.

She couldn’t tell what Carapace was doing, but he was silent for a moment. “How do I know you won’t just avoid me? Or lie?”

Rena felt her blood boil, and she grabbed an akuma’s arm, probably with more force than was necessary. “Are you really accusing me of lying? Again?”

“Well you apparently have some secret miraculous stash you’ve never mentioned.”

Rena grit her teeth as she finally got the ring off the copy’s finger. This one had been more resistant than the rest, and she was honestly so done with it. She was tired, Carapace was being a jerk, and now this _stupid ring_ wouldn’t break.

Wait.

“I’ve got it!” she cried relieved. The real Duplicator didn’t like that, and she began spewing some nonsense about taking their miraculous.

“Got what?”

“The right ring, idiot. Get over here and shield me while I call the others.” Carapace grumbled, but did as she said. He kept the Duplicators occupied and she called Ladybug.

The other two heroes arrived on the scene a few moments later, and Ladybug helped Carapace keep the copies at bay while Chat Noir took the ring from Rena.

“CATACLYSM!”

The ring was destroyed, the girl was de-akumatized, and the city was restored. Rena went into a building with Ladybug and Carapace took Chat Noir to an alley (after making Rena swear she’d met up with him after).

“You did a really great job today.”

“Wow, thanks. That means a lot. Tikki, spots off.”

The ladybug kwami beamed at her chosen. “Yes, you were a great Ladybug!”

Marinette smiled back before saying goodbye to her kwami, taking out the earrings, and handing the box back to Rena.

“Thank you,” Rena said as she accepted it. She waited until Marinette had left before making her way to the meeting spot.

“You actually came,” Carapace greeted.

Rena’s eyes narrowed. “Look Shelly, let’s get something clear. I may not be as serious or careful as you are, but I do keep my word. I’ve never lied to you, and you need to stop expecting me to. You’re the one who proposed teamwork, and yet you were accusing me for half the battle today.”

Carapace seemed taken aback, but he finally nodded. “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

Rena nodded back, not quite smiling. “Now, I’m sure you have some questions.”

He seemed to consider what to say, but before he could speak the beep of her miraculous filled the air. Rena winced.

“I have to go. But we can talk tomorrow at patrol. I promise, okay?”

He was silent for a moment, and then a tentative smile spread across his face. “Okay, I believe you.”

“Thanks.”

“You were good today. During the battle.”

She grinned, sticking out her fist. He eyed it curiously, but when she nodded encouragingly, he brought his fist up to knock against hers.

“Pound it!” she cried.

Carapace gaped at her, looking hilariously bewildered. “What?”

“It’s from a TV show I used to watch as a kid,” Rena explained sheepishly. Carapace stared at her for a few moments before he burst out laughing. “What? It is!” she protested, before beginning to giggle herself. They probably looked like lunatics, two teens bent over laughing on a random rooftop.

Carapace straightened up, his shoulders still shaking. He wiped away a tear as a goofy grin appeared on his face. “Whatever you say Rena, whatever you say.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos, comments and subscriptions appreciated. Stay safe and healthy! ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are appreciated! ;) The title is kind of a work-in-progress, so if you have a better idea, let me know!


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